Members of the Oyo State Liquor Sellers Association staged a peaceful protest to the palace of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Lekan Balogun , Alli Okunmade II, on Tuesday to voice their objection to the recent ban on sales of some categories of liquor by the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration.
NAFDAC had announced complete restriction on the production and sales of alcoholic beverages in sachets and glass bottles of 200ml and below. The agency’s Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, informed that none of the products being sold in the public were registered with NAFDAC which raises issues around adherence to quality standard.
The ban has raised a lot of dusts since it was announced, culminating in pockets of protests across the country.
One of such protests took place at the palace of Olubadan on Tuesday when members of alcoholic beverage sellers in Oyo State sought the intervention of the first-class monarch in the matter.
Led by the president, Chief Ezekiel Adeagbo, the protesters said since the announcement of the ban, members of their association have fallen victim to the overzealousness of some security officers, especially police, who extort them from time to time in the name of enforcement.
They lamented that the ban would ultimately take away the means of livelihood of their members who are in their hundreds of thousands, scattered across the state.
Olubadan, in his response through his Personal Assistant on Chieftaincy Matters, Chief Muibi Balogun, noted that the fear of threat to the health of the consumers adduced by the NAFDAC for the ban was valid, but urged for caution due to the prevailing economic situation in the country.
According to him, throwing people out of job now “is something that should not be contemplated and the more reason why there should be a round table conference among all the stakeholders to iron things out and come up with measures that would address the safety of lives and protect jobs at the same time”.
He then called on stakeholders in the industry to come together and reach a consensus that will not jeopardize the health of the public which the NAFDAC seeks to protect, and at the same time take care of the economic interest of producers and marketers of the banned products.
The leader of the association assured the monarch that they were ready to work with NAFDAC to ensure that all the issues raised to support the ban will be taken care of by their members.
“All the issues raised by the NAFDAC to warrant the ban are what can be easily addressed. We have the capacity to guide against sales of the drinks to the underage and the manufacturers too can reduce the level of alcoholic content in the sachets and pet to make it conform with what is acceptable to the agency” the President added.
